Jack

Cust

Those owners who have Cust stashed on a reserve roster are going to be happy when the Orioles, desperate for power, bring Cust up in a month or two.

Given a chance to start the last three games against the Red Sox, Cust came through with six hits to raise his average to .250 (OBP .352). He’s out of options so the Orioles will have to hold on to him next year or risk losing him through waivers. They should give him a chance to win the DH job in spring training.

Cust, who has played very well over the last month and a half, was upset with a couple of strike calls and continued to argue with the umpire after a single. He’ll probably get most of a week off after running at and colliding with umpire Bob Bainter.

While Cust could finally see some time with the Orioles as a DH since he is preferable to Jose Morban, his stay would probably be a short one, as the O’s would send him down when B.J. Surhoff comes off the DL on Saturday.

Cust has yet to receive an at-bat with the team despite two callups and plenty of nagging injuries to David Segui and B.J. Surhoff. This makes very little sense, as Cust was hot (.326 since May 6) at Triple-A Ottawa before being called up to ride the pine in Baltimore.

All three were solo shots, as Jon Knott and Justin Leone combined to go 0-for-10 ahead of him. Cust is batting .296/.473/.547 with 21 homers in 338 at-bats. He leads all of baseball with 112 walks. The major league leader is Bobby Abreu, who has 93 in 356 at-bats.

Cust has played very well over the last couple of months, but the Orioles haven’t cleared any room for him yet. Odds are that he’ll return to the minors next week. Until Baltimore trades a veteran, Cust probably won’t be worth owning in AL-only leagues.

Bogusevic is 3-for-24 with no RBI and seven strikouts this spring. The Astros were hoping he’d secure a job as the starting right fielder against right-handed pitching, but he’s definitely lost some ground. The door could be open for Travis Buck or Jack Cust to start. Buck is the candidate having a terrific spring, with a .438 average in 16 at-bats. Cust, on the other hand, is doing even worse than Bogusevic, having gone 0-for-20 so far.

Cust is still in search of his first hit this spring. He’s now 0-for-14 with four strikeouts and three walks thus far.

Cust got a major league deal in January, but he’s hardly assured of a spot in the Houston outfield at this point. The Astros could release him and take Travis Buck in his place.